Video: The obligatory “Rick Perry feelin’ good in New Hampshire” clip

posted at 5:25 pm on October 31, 2011 by Allahpundit

I tucked this into last night’s QOTD but it warrants its own post now that it’s officially, er, international news. Any Texans/longtime Perry-watchers care to speculate? Ben Domenech told Ace that he’s seen Perry like this once before and thinks he was overcompensating for being tired. I don’t know; he’s been tired during the debates too and the result was … not a burst of giddy energy, to put it mildly. Maybe he was just groovin’ on the thought of leading Obama in, of all places, Wisconsin? Or maybe he realized that he’s still the default option once undecideds realize that they don’t like Romney and don’t trust a candidate as inexperienced as Cain? Or maybe he’s the guy who bet on the Cardinals back in early September? All theories welcome.

That’s the first clip. The second clip is his new ad in Iowa, in which he nudges voters not to care so much about what gets said at debates. Exit question: Perry’s numbers in New Hampshire according to the last eight polls taken are 4, 4, 6, 7, 2, 2, 4, 4. Why is he still spending time there?

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As I said i the Headlines last night… if he was drunk, someone buy him a few more cases of sour mash.

He was the Happy Warrior in that clip. He was Humphrey. He was Al Smith. He was the guy who will carry a conservative banner in a cigar-chomping, whiskey-toasting, press-the-flesh-until-your-hands-hurt type of way.

If he came out in the debates looking like that, I’d feel a lot better about him.

A lot…

JohnGalt23 on October 31, 2011 at 5:40 PM

Ditto. I had decided Perry was a stiff: inarticulate, dour, and a little thick. Here he’s a little silly, but maybe that’s why he gets re-elected in Texas. Why is Herman Cain doing so well, and Mitt Romney is not? Because Mr. Cain is eminently likable. Maybe Gov. Perry is more likable than I thought. I know we’re all ideologues here, but it does make a difference.

I actually found Perry in this 8-minute clip to be intelligent, self-deprecating, fluent, and right on all the policy issues he mentioned. And this is the first positive thing I ever said about Perry. While I knew, abstractly, that the debates are not the exclusive or even the best forums by which to judge a candidate, multiple viewing of Perry in these setting really had me thinking he was pretty much a moron stiff.

If he had been this positive at the beginning, he might still have his lead. But he came out swaggering and throwing elbows and discovered that Romney may not be a negative campaigner, but he doesn’t let attacks go uncountered. It’s kind of weird how both he and Michele Bachman just evaporated.

Herman Cain would have too, if there was anybody left besides Romney to run to. Everybody seems to be waiting for the Mighty Quinn, but this time around, he’s not coming. Everybody’s upset with Romney because he keeps correcting his course, not because of the substance of his positions. What conservative is not for becoming energy independent, reducing regulations and taxes and resolving the problem of ever increasing entitlements? What conservative is not for repealing Obamacare, paying down our debt and cutting federal spending and returning more authority to the states?

This campaign really isn’t that much about issues, as much as it is about who is best situated to beat Obama. All the other stuff is like arguing over what color of tie the candidate should wear.

Call me strange, but I loved that speech. It shows a man with a little wit, humor and above all, passion. It sure beats some disconnected, mechanical clown spouting catch phrases for 15 minutes and then rushing home to fill out his NCAA brackets.